


Courting Louis

by Fuzzypurplestuff



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 12:41:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3488633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuzzypurplestuff/pseuds/Fuzzypurplestuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They didn't even exchange numbers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Courting Louis

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta/brit picker the wonderful [Sam](http://asteriaseren2010.tumblr.com//)
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [Fuzzypurplestuff](http://fuzzypurplestuff.tumblr.com/)

**Monday**

Louis Tomlinson was not a happy bunny. He had been forced out of his office on Friday because they needed to replace the lights and now there was a guy from IT crawling around under his desk assuring him that he would have the problem fixed in a jiffy. Meanwhile Louis was sitting in one of his visitors chairs with his useless laptop on, well, his lap getting no work done. “Can I at least get a time frame, Jimmy?”

“Just a few more minutes Mister Tomlinson, I promise.”

Louis sighed and tipped his head back to stare at the new LED light fixtures that had chased him out of the office the previous week. He was counting the number of lights when Kelly, one of the administrative assistants, knocked on his door frame. “There’s a package here for you, Louis.” She handed him a small box.

Louis thanked her and after checking and finding no return address opened the package. Inside was a small intricately carved box. He opened it to find and exquisite wire work bridge. It was about four inches high and the detail was incredible. When he lifted it out of the box a note fell out. ‘Hi, I was out shopping this morning and I saw this and immediately thought of you. H’

Louis just stared at the note in his hand a smile slowly blooming over his face.

“Oi! Tommo, you wanna get something for lunch?” Stan Lucas interrupted his musings. “What’s that?” He pointed at the little bridge in Louis’ hand.

“It’s a gift.” Louis held up the bridge for Stan to see. 

“From who?” He took the little bridge. “This is really beautiful.”

“Just a friend.” Louis smiled to himself.

“Well, your friend has great taste.” Stan handed Louis back his gift. “You wanna get a bite?”

“Yeah, sure gimme a minute.” Louis moved to the bookshelf/display case behind his desk and stepping over Jimmy from IT, set the little wire bridge on the centre shelf.

 

**Wednesday**

 

“Yo, Tommo?”

Louis looked up from his work. “Stanley.”

“We’re going out for a few after work, you in?”

Before Louis could answer, Kelly came in with a package and placed it on his desk. “No return on this one either.” 

Louis waved Stan in as he opened the box. “Oh, my god!” He breathed.

“What? What is it? Let me see?”

Louis turned the box so it was facing Stan.

“A bunch of old comics?”

Louis snatched the box back around. “You’re a heathen.” He lifted the comic books out of the box, thankful they were in protective slips. “These aren’t old comics, they’re–“ He stopped when he saw the note. ‘I found these in one of my favourite pre-enjoyed book shops. I don’t know much about them, but when I saw them, I couldn’t help but think of you, H’.

“Are they from the same person as the bridge?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah they are.” Louis hugged the note to his chest.

“So, what, you have a secret admirer?”

“No. I know who they’re from.”

Stan just looked at him with his brow raised.

“Nope, not going to tell you.” He carefully placed the valuable books back in the box with the note. 

“Fine, see if I care.” Stan huffed out of the office.

 

**Thursday**

 

“Hey, Lou, do you have those number–“ Stan came to a stop when he saw Louis was opening yet another package. “Geez, I don’t buy my girlfriends that many gifts.” He leaned over Louis’ desk. “What this time?”

Louis’ smile was soft. “A gift card for Marielle’s”

“That stupid bakery you love so much.”

“Neanderthal. Marielle’s is the finest Patisserie in the city.”

“They charge four quid for a lemon tart.”

“Which is why I only go there on special occasions.” Louis lifted the note from the bottom of the box. ‘You should be able to treat yourself whenever you like, H’

“Okay, spill, Romeo, who’s sending this stuff. You got yourself a new boyfriend you’re not telling anyone about.”

“Fuck off.”

 

**Monday**

 

“STAN!” 

Stan came running into Louis’ office. “What? What’s wrong?” He looked around the room and saw that Louis was seated at his desk with a huge grin on his face. “What the hell, Lou?”

“Look!” Louis waved something in Stan’s face. “Look what I have!”

“I would if you’d stop waving it around.” Stan grabbed the envelope from Louis and checked the contents. “Holy shit!”

“I know!”

“They’ve been sold out forever!”

“I know!”

“Game Day Hospitality!”

“I know!”

“Holy shit!”

“Yeah!”

Stan’s face fell. “So you’re going to go with your generous friend, I guess.”

“No, actually I was going to ask my best friend if he wanted to go.”

“But–“

“Nope. He said to ask you.”

“What?”

Louis showed him the note that had accompanied the ticket. ‘I wish I could be there with you too but I’m out of town this weekend. I know you love the game so take your best football friend and ENJOY! H’

“Who the hell is this guy, Lou.”

Louis just smiled.

 

**Thursday**

 

Kelly stuck her head around the corner of Louis’ office door. ““You need to get this one yourself. It’s heavy.”

Louis carried the large box into his office and set it on his desk. By the time he had unwrapped it Stan had joined him. “What is it this time?”

“Well since my x-ray vision is on the blink, you’ll have to wait until I open it to find out, same as me.” Louis finished unwrapping it to find an old wooden hinged box. While it was clearly old and had seen some life, the box was still solid. He flipped the hinge to open it and gasped. “Oh.”

Stan crowded closer to see what it was. “Wow.”

Louis lifted the antique transit out of its protective case. “Oh, look at you, you beauty.” He turned the instrument in his hands. “Look at the condition.”

Stan was examining the box. “Its late nineteenth century, yeah?’

“Yeah, eighteen-ninety-six.” Louis had to sit down. “It’s a lot older than anything I own.”

“Lou, this thing is–“

“Yeah, I know.” Louis picked up the note. ‘I couldn’t resist, it told me it needed to come live with you. H’

 

**Monday**

 

Stan followed Kelly into Louis’ office and invited himself to sit as she placed the package on Louis’ desk. “So what did he send you today?”

Louis opened the tube and pulled out the papers it contained. He moved over to the drafting desk in the corner to lay them out. “Oh, my god!” Was all he said when he saw what they were.

“What, what are they?” Stan was trying to see them over Louis shoulder. When Louis stepped aside and Stan was able to see them he gasped. “Holy shit. Are those real?”

“I don’t know.” Louis looked more carefully at all three pages of drawings. “They look real. They’re– hang on, they’re dated.” He grabbed a magnifying glass. “Shit, I think they are.” He ran back to his desk to shake the tube and sure enough a note fell out. ‘You said it was what inspired you, so when I saw these I couldn’t help myself, I thought you might like them. H’ “Holy shit, I think these are some of Platt’s drawings!”

“Fuck, Lou, those must be worth a fortune. Why aren’t they at the Hall?”

“I don’t know, I– I know some of them are but–“ Louis dropped into his chair. “Holy shit.”

“Louis, these are– I don’t even know what they are.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I–“ Stan sat in one of the chairs and just stared at the drawings. “Who the hell is this guy, Louis?” He waved around the office. “Who do you know that can get last minute tickets to a sold out football game and antique survey instruments and shit, he didn’t just run across those drawings!”

Louis was still staring at the drawings. “Two weeks ago I met Harry Styles in a coffee shop.’

Stan opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he was able to get any words out. “You met Harry Styles in a coffee shop.”

Louis nodded.

“As in One Direction Harry Styles, with the curls and all–“ He waved his hands in the air.

Louis nodded again.

“I’m not sure what to say now, really.”

“To be honest, neither am I.”

“Harry Styles.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna need more information, mate.”

Louis finally dragged his eyes from the drawings to look at his best friend. “It was when they were putting the new lights in here.”

“Ah, yes, you had a little strop because you couldn’t possible work while they were in here. Unlike everyone else in the building.”

“Fuck off. Anyway, I was over at Beanz and I was working on my computer and this guy just leans over and asks me about the drawing I had open.”

“And it was Harry Styles.”

“Yes.”

“Sure, okay.”

“Yeah.”

“So how do you get from him asking about the drawing to buying you those?” He pointed at the drawings.

“I– well. . . “ Louis was a bit at a loss. “We just talked, I mean it was all afternoon and it was great. I was surprised at how smart he is and funny and really interesting to talk to. A bit disconcerting at first but great.”

“What do you mean disconcerting.” Stan held up a hand. “And don’t be a smart ass and define the word.”

Louis pouted. “Fine. I mean up close he is just overwhelmingly attractive, and sexy as hell, but it’s mostly that he just has this really intense way of– I guess it’s the way he listens, it’s really focussed, like what you’re saying is the most interesting thing he’s ever heard and he can’t wait to hear more and he also has a thing for eye contact, and those eyes. . .”

“Yeah, he’s the prettiest, whatever. I’m still a bit confused.”

Louis snorted. “You’re a long way ahead of me then, because I don’t have a clue. I didn’t think I’d ever hear from him again. We didn’t exchange numbers, so I thought that was it, an interesting afternoon with everyone’s favourite pop star. He was flirting but. . . and then there’s his reputation, so I thought I’d never hear from him again.”

“That must have been some talk though. These gifts. . .”

“Yeah, he definitely paid attention.” Louis smiled. “We talked about how I got into engineering how my interest in building came from when they did the renovation on Cusworth, thus the drawings. I told him I collect antique survey equipment.”

“The transit.”

“Yeah. I had a couple of comic books with me. We talked about football and he was happy to hear I was a ManU fan. The bridge was because that’s the drawing I had open when he sat down.”

“What about the bakery?”

“I’m not even sure how we ended up talking about it, but we did.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.” 

“But how did he find you?”

“Well, he knows my name, occupation and the firm’s name is on the drawing he saw, so it’s not exactly rocket science.”

“Okay.” Stan thought for a moment. “Is he out?”

“I–, I don’t know.”

“Wow.”

“What?’

“If he’s not out.” Stan turned Louis’ laptop around and did a quick search. “Which since he is apparently banging half the female population of the planet, I’m going to say he isn’t, that’s a lot of trust to put in you. After that first gift you could have run to the press.”

“No, we talked about how hard it was for me to come out here at work. About how scared I was of being a gay man in the construction industry.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he saw my key chain.” 

Stan smirked. “See aren’t you glad I bought it for you.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, just what I always needed, a rainbow hardhat. Anyway, we talked for a while about it. He never really said he wasn’t straight, but he was definitely flirting and giving off an interested vibe.” 

“But he never got your number.”

“No, I kinda thought he might, but you know, he’s Harry Styles, so. . .”

“What, you thought you weren’t good enough for him?”

“No, I just– I don’t know, he’s a huge star and I wasn’t even positive he was into guys so I figured I had a great afternoon talking to a really, and can I just say I mean _really_ , gorgeous guy and that was that.”

Stan seemed to have drifted away from the conversation, perhaps not as interested in Harry’s pretty eyes and soft looking lips as Louis. He returned his attention to Louis with a cheeky grin. “He’s courting you.”

“What the fuck are you on about.”

“Like old fashioned courting. Sending gifts that only mean something to you. Those are gifts he would only get for you. He’s courting you. How quaint.”

“I–“

Stan started to laugh. “The Tommo being courted by a pop star.” 

Louis just glared at him stone faced. “Are you quite finished.”

“Oh, c’mon, Lou. He’s a romantic, you can’t tell me you’re not eating this up.”

“What?”

“Oh, please, you’re the biggest cheese ball I know. You cry at romcoms for fuck’s sake.”

“Just because _I_ happen to have a functioning heart–“

“Sap.”

“I’m tenderhearted.” Louis sniffed.

“Tender headed is more like it.”

“Harry didn’t seem to mind.”

“He writes and sings sappy love songs for a living.”

“Yeah, listen to Stockholm Syndrome and get back to me on that one.”

“But none of this matters because you still can’t call him.”

“No.” Louis all but whined, tugging at his hair with both hands. “I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of who I know that might be connected to someone who might know someone else, etcetera, but I just can’t.”

“Well, he has to call sometime, right. I mean there’s no way he’s going to go to all the trouble of these gifts and not get his hands on you.” Stan smirked when Louis began to sputter indignantly.

Louis pointed at the door. “Out.”

 

**Tuesday**

 

“Uh, Louis?”

He looked up to see Kelly in his door. “Yeah?”

“There’s another delivery for you.”

“Okay.”

A delivery man dressed in a suit entered carrying a lovely bouquet of Sunflowers. He handed them to Louis with a bright smile. “I’m supposed to wait for an answer.” 

Louis was at a loss, no one had ever sent him flowers before. He fumbled with the card for a second before he got it open. ‘These absolutely reminded me of you. Have dinner with me Saturday?’ Louis looked at the delivery man, his grin wide and happy. “The answer is yes.”

The End


End file.
